The Deck of Rogues: All in the Cards
by SkyLarkTurner
Summary: Bruce Wayne is engaged to the love of his life. But when the Joker, insanity and death create a new Rogue, will Batman have to teamup with his archenemy to save the heads of Gotham and even the Rogues? R&R Please. COMPLETE!
1. The Joker's Escape

**Summary: **Bruce Wayne is engaged to the love of his life. But when the Joker, insanity, and death create a new Rogue, will Batman have to team-up with his arch-enemy to save the heads of Gotham and even the Rogues?

**Rated:** K+

**Genre:** Action/Adventure and Mystery

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing of Batman: The Animated Series. So play nice and don't sue me.

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Joker's Escape**

The Joker sat at the far end of the couch in the Arkham Asylum rec. room with his legs stretched out sown the rest of the couch. On his lap, Harley Quinn lounged back onto the cushioned back of the sofa. Her blonde hair was done up in two pigtails and she was intently watching the television and blowing bubbles with her gum. Across the room, the Mad Hatter and Scarecrow were deep in a chess match, while Two-Face, the Penguin, and Killer Croc played cards and Poison Ivy pruned a potted rose in the corner.

"-And today in celebrity news," the voice of Summer Gleason come over the television, "Miss Victoria Star, daughter of the renown Victor Star, celebrated her thirty-third birthday today. She had this to say earlier on her birthday celebration:"

Joker's attention had turned to the television at the mention of the name "Victoria Star" and watched as a picture of a young blonde filled the screen. She had bright eyes under high-arched brows. A slender nose and high cheekbones completed the frame with a sharp but gentle chin below full lips. Her face was an image of innocent beauty.

"I don't think too much about birthdays anymore," the picture of Victoria Star commented. "I think just a nice, simple dinner with my fiancé would be just fine. Bruce always was one for simple occasions."

The voice of Summer came from off camera, "Is their any wedding bells in the future for you and Bruce Wayne?"

Victoria Star laughed, "Not quiet yet…"

The picture returned to Summer Gleason at her news desk. "Victoria Star, recently awarded for her work in bio-engineering and Gotham's rising "It-Girl", has yet to announce when she and Gotham's most eligible bachelor will tie the knot. -"

The Joker turned his attention away from the television and continued to watch the Penguin destroy Two-Face and Croc in poker. Outside in the hallway, the sound of footsteps drew his gaze between the two guards that stood posted on either side of the open door.

A young woman with blonde hair pulled back under a pink bur-ray and dressed in a pink sweater and white mini skirt and go-go boots strode past the open door. Her sapphire eyes gazed calmly into the room and met with the Joker's. Both stared at each other for a moment and then the woman absent-mindedly placed a medicine bottle into her purse, without breaking her eyes from the Joker. With the next step, the woman had vanished from the view of the door.

The Joker still looked at the vacant space in the doorway, a sadden look flickering in his eyes.

"Mistah J?" Harley looked at her love with a worried face. "Are you okay, Puddin'? You don't look to well."

Joker looked at Harley. "Now that you mentioned it…" He put his hand to his head with a groan. "I'm feeling rather ill…" He slumped back over the arm of the couch, moaning and holding his head.

"Doctor!" Harley shouted and jumped to her feet. "Somebody get the doc, quick!"

"Easy," one guard stepped forward to help the Joker up to his feet. "I'll take him to Dr. Bartholomew."

Every other occupant of the room watched with raised eyebrows as the Joker faked a splitting headache out the door. The guard half carried, half dragged the groaning clown down the hallway and into a vacant examination room. The guard then heaved the Joker's body onto the examination table and hurried out find a doctor.

As soon as the guard's back disappeared from sight, the Joker's groans turned into villainous chuckles. "Oh, that never fails!" He exclaimed.

The Joker climbed off the table and glanced around the room. A high window above a rolling cabinet was propped open to the outside air.

The Joker smiled evilly and grabbed a chair from under the doctor's table. He hopped up onto the cabinet and placed the chair next to him, using it to reach the window. Pushing the window all the way open, the Joker leaned his head out to survey the drop.

"Watch that first step…" Joker pulled the rest of his body out so he sat on the sill of the window outside. "It's a doozy…" And with that he dropped into the fenced courtyard below.

The Joker landed hard on his feet and stood straight up admiring his own ingenuity. Behind him came the low sound of growling and ferocious barking. Joker looked two see two large bulldogs charging straight at him.

"Nice doggies!" He cringed in surprise and took off down the side of the asylum. However, the Joker was quickly running out of space. The fenced enclosure ended with the building in a mix of brush and a large oak tree.

Joker hastily dove into the tall bushes that grew on the inside corner of the court. Bulldogs still barking at his heels, he squeezed his tall frame between the end of the fence and the stonewall of Arkham. With a long sigh, he collapsed against the wall of the asylum.

"Sorry boys," Joker walked out into the open on the safe side of the fence to look at the still barking dogs. "But I have a birthday to crash!" He stuck out his tongue and blew a raspberry at the enraged dogs, and with his famous laugh, made off into the growing dusk towards Gotham.


	2. Past History

**Chapter 2: Past History**

"I'd like to thank you for dinner, Bruce…" Victoria Star said as she turned the key in her apartment door.

"What are fiancés for?" Bruce Wayne remarked lightly with a shrug and a small smile.

Victoria laughed and leaned over to kiss her fiancés cheek, her tall frame just a few inches shorter then the handsome Bruce Wayne's. She pushed open the door to her penthouse apartment. Victoria made to flip on her living room light to find that the light no longer worked. She pushed the door wider and peered into the living room.

"Victoria, what's wrong?" Bruce asked from behind and opened the door wider to see past Victoria's unmoving frame.

There, silhouetted in the moonlight from the large windowed doors that led to the penthouse's porch, was a tall figure whose red eyes shown in the light from the hallway.

"Hello, Victoria," the Joker said darkly and switched on a floor lamp to reveal himself in his clean pressed purple suit.

Victoria's light-hearted countenance grew dark so she appeared even taller and more rigid than before. The expression she wore was one of cold hate that overshadowed even her vivid blonde hair and pink pearl dress. "What do you want?" here voice was sober and hard.

"Why just to wish you a 'Happy birthday' of course!" Joker exclaimed, remaining light and playful.

Victoria casually ignored the Joker and walked into the adjacent bedroom. Defiantly she flipped on the light and sat at her vanity.

"Awww, Victoria," Joker popped his head around the corner of the wall. "Don't be so mad at me, besides, have you forgotten us?" He walked behind her, placing his white-gloved hands on her shoulders while smiling into the vanity.

"Yes." Victoria did not break her gaze from the mirror. "I forgot the day my old fiancé, Jack Napier, died…" she put on a cold emphasis on the Joker's old name.

"But Victoria, it's me, Jack. I never died." He shook his head in a worried fashion. "You know I was like this even before my accident, or is it that you can get over my stunning new look?" He posed in the mirror.

"It's over Joker. There never was anything between us. I've moved on."

"Oh no you haven't," the Joker leaned close to Victoria's ear. Reaching out, he picked out a medicine bottle amongst her perfumes and makeup, and shook it gently in the mirror next to their two faces.

"You can't forget me… Or that night… Or what's inside you…You forget, I've seen your darker side," the Joker's voice was low and foreboding. "The one you hide from society with these," he shook the bottle furiously. "Let me give you a little advice… In the end, you can't hide who you really are…"

"Joker…" a dark voice said from the window door.

Both the Joker and Victoria looked to see the shadowy figure of Batman standing in the open door.

"Leave her be…" the Dark Knight threatened, advancing on the Joker.

"Easy Bats!" the Joker drew himself up to his full height and raised his hands to show he meant no harm. "I was just bringing Miss Star her birthday present." He reached into his jacket.

Batman slowly edged his hand to this Bat Grapple, ready for anything the Joker may pull out.

Instead of a bomb, Joker took out a small ox wrapped in purple paper and tied with an emerald bow. Slowly and deliberately, he placed the present on the edge of the vanity.

Batman's hand relaxed a bit on the handle of his grapple hook, but he still did not trust the Joker.

"Well, look at the time!" Joker pushed up his sleeve to look at his watch, making a face of mild surprise. "Got to go," he patted Victoria on the head, "bye V. See ya around, Bats." Casually, he walked past Batman and onto the porch.

Batman followed the Joker with his gaze, unsure of what he was up to.

Joker stopped at the edge of the porch. He turned and gave Batman and Victoria a salute and fell over the side.

Batman rushed to the side of the veranda just in time to see the Joker fall into a dump truck full of hay. He then turned his attention back to Victoria. She was staring blankly at the present next to her.

"Miss Star?" Batman stepped over to her fearing another one of Joker's traps.

"Don't worry, Bruce, it's not booby-trapped…" She said in a vacant tone, her eyes unfocused.

"What did you call me?" Batman's heart skipped a beat.

Victoria blinked and looked up at Batman, realizing what she said. "Bruce Wayne?" she whispered in shock.

"How did you know that?" Batman questioned, attempting to keep his shock from showing.

"I don't know… I cold always do things like that when I was younger… I could even move things by looking at them… but this is the first time in what seems like forever that I did that," Victoria went on in a panic. "Maybe my medicine is wearing off. Oh, I'm so sorry, Bruce! I mean… Batman…"

Batman shook his head. "It makes no difference. I would have had to tell you eventually… but what I need to know is how the Joker knows you…"

Victoria grew quiet and looked at herself in the mirror. "It seems like such a long time ago…" She picked up a picture of her and Bruce and pulled a photograph from behind. Without a word, she handed it to Batman.

Batman turned the picture over in his hand. In the picture stood Victoria, clad in a white, corseted, wedding dress with a collared overcoat that hung down showing off her shoulder. Her hair was pulled back in a tight bun under a small white top hat that was tilted over her brow with a ribbon bow in the back, trailing down past her shoulder blades.

What surprised Batman, however, was the man who was on her arm. There in full suit and hat was the image of the Joker himself, but it wasn't the Joker. Jack Napier was dressed in the groom's black. His red hair was neatly rushed ask out of his eyes, which held a kind, joyous, yet reserved, glow. His long nose was the same, but his smile was simple and normal, even serious.

"We were to be wed two weeks after that picture was taken… Until the accident…" Victoria's eyes were sad and empty as she gazed at her reflection. "We knew everything about each other. We were partners at work and in life…"

Batman handed the photograph back. "I did everything I could to save him…"

"It doesn't matter now. He will always hold you responsible for his death, whether he admits it was an accident or not… The Joker was always inside. There's a darker side to everyone. We just need the right situation to snap…" She gave a weak smile to Batman.

"Can you help me find him, then?"

"I couldn't tell you anything more except that it is a good chance he will pay me a visit again… As far as I am concerned our loved died when Jack Napier did, but he seems to think differently." Victoria looked around, but Batman had already disappeared.


	3. Evil Inside

**Chapter 3: Evil Inside**

It was late, nearly ten o'clock at night. However, the main laboratory of Wayne Tech Labs was still lit. Victoria Star sat in front of a huge mega computer slightly dozing. She had no ambition to return to her apartment after her encounter with the Joker the previous night.

The screeching sound of the computer's printer broke Victoria's slumber. She groggily took the read out and made her way up the grated steps to the second level of the lab, which hung over the main laboratory, acting as a storage area.

Victoria scanned the shelves for samples and enzymes. Bioengineering was her specialty, she a certain skill in figuring out genetic and hereditary problems. Her current work was a growth enzyme for the treatment of systemic hypoplasim, a disorder that kept the famous Mary Dahl from aging. Victoria had offered her services after hearing her story. Yet the other possible applications of a growth enzyme were endless.

Victoria sighed, walking through the tall lines of jars and boxes. She pulled off a small vial of serum and turned to search for the next component in the experiment.

"Need a hand?" a familiar voice said in a dark tone.

Victoria froze, dropping the vial so that it shattered on the grated floor, spilling its contents on the table below.

The Joker advanced toward her down the shelves' aisle, his hands folded behind his back.

Victoria rounded on her heels and ran for the stairs, which were the only way down from the loft level of the lab. She turned the corner to see one of the Joker's henchmen blocking the stairs.

"I do hope you've reconsidered my offer…" Joker continued his advance on Victoria. "We could be great you know. We could rule this dismal town and have it all to ourselves."

Victoria leaned back on the railing of the left for support. Her breath came in short pants, a snarl growing on her flawless lips.

"Go back to your little slave girl in Arkham!" she burst, eyes glowing with rage, her body shaking. "I'll never be like you! Not in this lifetime, not ever!"

The Joker looked shocked, but smiled even wider. "Oh but you are… Even now, without all your pills and medications, the real you is coming out… Stop fighting it and join me."

"Stop it!" Victoria covered her ears and collapsed to her knees, the Joker right in front of her.

"Enough, Joker." The silhouette of Batman appeared against the moonlight from the large windows.

The Joker's eyes narrowed. "Why can't you just mind your own business!" He reached into his jacket and pulled out a revolver.

A batarang was there to meet the Joker's revolver, knocking it out of his hand making him double over holding his hand.

Victoria screamed in rage. Completely ignoring Batman, she lunged at the Joker, tackling him to the ground. Without a second thought, she began to pummel the Joker.

"Gah! Get 'er off me!" Joker cried at the sudden attack. "She's crazy!"

Batman jumped on the flailing Victoria, using all of his strength to raise her struggling body up over his head, away from the Joker. Batman's balance was thrown by Victoria's struggling and he toppled backwards, hitting the railing.

Victoria let out an ear-piercing scream as she fell over the edge. Her hand reached up in time to snag the bottom rung of the railing.

"Victoria!" It was the Joker who shouted and raced to the rail, reaching down for her hand. "Give me your hand!"

Victoria looked up at the Joker, fear in her eyes. "Jack…" she whispered and a glimmer of recognition came over her face.

Batman turned on his stomach to also reach for Victoria. "Reach, Victoria!"

Her fingers slipped, and Victoria screamed. Her scream was cut short by the crashing of her body on the lab table below.

"No!" Joker was hanging over the rail, gazing down at the woman he had once hoped to be his wife. Something inside of him seemed to fade away.

Batman quickly jumped to his feet and over the rail, landing next to Victoria's body. He, too, feared the worst. Placing two fingers on her throat, he felt the faint thump of a pulse. "She's alive…"

Outside the sound of police sirens rang and soon the Gotham police were swarming into the lab, along with the paramedics.

"She's lucky to be alive," Commissioner Gordon remarked as Batman and him watched Victoria's limp body being taken out on a stretcher.

"I'm still worried about the chemicals she fell into," Batman commented gravely. "Who knows how it will affect her."

"We'll have the best doctors taking care of her," Commissioner Gordon assured. "But I'm afraid the Joker's still at large…"

"Somehow, I feel he won't be causing much trouble for now…" Batman replied darkly.

"Well, I hope you're right…" Gordon looked up to see Batman had already disappeared. "I really hate it when he does that…"

"Are you sure there's nothing you can do for her, doctor?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Wayne," the head doctor of Gotham General Hospital said looking at his clipboard. "But there's no way in telling what the chemicals she was exposed to will do. All we can do is hope for the best." He gave Bruce Wayne a sympathetic pat on the shoulder and left the hospital room.

Bruce turned to face the hospital bed. The body of Victoria laid limp under the aqua-blue hospital covers. She had been unconscious for two days and her body was beginning to fade. A deathly pale was growing under her bronzed skin. Her golden hair withered into a dull gray with streaks of black along with her nails which showed the same shade of gray.

Bruce pulled a chair next to his fiancé, wondering what the change on the outside would do to her. He grasped her hand, which mirrored the rest of her thinning body in that every bone now showed. In his head, he thought of how he could have prevented this. Guilt stained his mind and he remembered the night she fell, replaying the scene over and over.

A weak pressure squeezed Bruce's hand, calling him back to the hospital room. He looked at Victoria's face. Her sunken cheeks were covered in beads of sweat. Her teeth were clenched as if she was trying to contain some evil.

"Doctor!"


	4. A Method to the Madness

**Chapter 4: A Method to the Madness**

Victoria felt herself falling. She could hear the shattering of the glass beakers and test tubes under her. She could feel the shards thrusting into her back and spine. Then, nothing, all was black.

It felt like she was floating. All around, she could hear echoes of the Joker's voice. No, not the Joker, it was Jack. In the moment before her fingers slipped, she could see him, the real Jack. His face was no longer a clown, scarred and white, but normal. As if his face was always grinning and his eyes blood-shot.

Bruce, he let her fall, but there was no Bruce Wayne anymore, just Batman. All of the feelings, the love she had for him, were gone. Bruce Wayne was now just a familiar face and Batman, an enemy.

"No!" she yelled clutching her mind as if to stop the madness.

The floating spell broken, Victoria plummeted. The faces of the Joker laughing and Batman, with his white-eyed stare flashed by her eyes. A mirror appeared in front of her as the falling slowed and stopped altogether.

Victoria took a step toward it. In the mirror was a woman with jet-black, long hair, ivory skin and long, black nails. Sunken cheeks revealed high cheekbones and wisps of dark shadows gave a beautiful, undead look to indigo eyes. A graceful nose rested above a pair of deep, blood red lips.

Victoria was so close that her breath fogged the glass. Her eyes were set on the woman's. Instinctively, she placed a hand on the mirror. The woman in the mirror mimicked her.

Victoria's breath caught in her throat. Her hand was exactly like the woman's. She tried to pull away but her hand was stuck fast. Victoria looked at the woman in horror.

The woman returned Victoria's shock with an evil grin. Her smile revealed two long canines as she began to laugh behind the glass.

"You!" Victoria gasped, mortified.

The woman ceased her laughing and glared at Victoria. The insane glint of a hunter about to kill its prey grew in her dark eyes.

Suddenly, the woman raised her fist and brought them crashing down onto the mirror, showering Victoria in a shower of fragments.

Victoria Star sat bolt upright in her hospital bed. At first her indigo eyes were blank and wide, but slowly the shock wore off and she glanced at her surroundings. A wicked smile began to grow across blood red lips to show two long fangs.

With cat-like grace, she climbed over the foot of the bed, letting the IV's and monitors tear off her arms and chest. Moving quickly to the wardrobe closet across the room, she ripped off the hospital gown and tossed it to the tile floor. Victoria then raced through the forgotten clothes and pulled out an over-sized sweater and a small pair of blue jeans with a triumphant smirk.

A low snore came from behind Victoria. She spun, ready to fight, only to find a handsome man asleep in the chair next to her bed. Inching closer, Victoria looked at the familiar face of Bruce Wayne. Inspecting the rest of her fiancé's appearance, she noted a set of keys protruding from his pocket.

Victoria did not give a second though about stealing the keys out of Bruce's pocket. She twirled the set around her index finder and strutted over to the window with a newfound confidence. She was never fond of rich socialites anyway.

A casual glance out the window told her that she was on the fifth floor of Gotham General. She could see Bruce's Bentley sitting a couple rows back in the parking lot. The window was open, and slid upwards with a loud bang.

"What?" Bruce sat up in his chair and looked bleary eyed at the hospital bed. Seeing Victoria's bed empty, his eyes swiftly focused on the figure that was crouched in the window. It was Victoria.

"Thanks for the ride," Victoria's voice had changed as well as her appearance. It was now shadowed and more seductive than the light-hearted voice that had greeted him so often.

Bruce watched as Victoria gave him a flirtatious smile, flashing her canines, and jumped out the window. Horrified Bruce rushed to windowsill.

Five stories below, Victoria straightened to her full height, unscathed from her jump. She threw Bruce a playful wave over the shoulder and strode out to his Bentley. Pulling out the keys, she opened the car door and slid in the driver's seat. Acting as if the car was her own, she turned on the ignition and drove off with the car.

The Joker sat thinking to himself in the darkened living room of the Star Mansion. Pictures across the walls and mantel of the fireplace echoed memories of a life long passed. Once upon a time, he and Victoria had hoped to share the hugged mansion together as husband and wife. The mansion, however, was forgotten after the death of Jack Napier and when Victoria moved into the city.

Cobwebs and dust layered the photographs of Jack Napier, a serious and composed man of science, along side of a charismatic young woman with golden blonde hair and a smile that could melt even the coldest heart. He could always be himself around her, even if the scientific community might have frowned on the real Jack Napier.

"Mistah J?" a small voice called from the wide French doorway.

The Joker looked to see Harley leaning against the door jam in a red nightshirt. Her blonde hair pulled back in a single ponytail, porcelain face and black mask gone. Her blue eyes sparkled innocently over a shy smile. "Yes, Harley?"

"I was just wonderin' if you were feelin' okay?" she shuffled her feet anxiously.

"Just thinking, that's all…" the Joker adverted his gaze across the living room. Now, he remembered why he loved Harley so much. She and Victoria could have been twins. From the first time he saw her in Arkham, a space in his heart had filled a little.

Harley scanned the room, not wanting to leave her love alone in the dark. Catching sight of the photographs that lined the room, she commented, "Who do you think they were?"

Joker looked up. A slight frown had replaced his usual grin and sighed, "The Napiers."

"Oh," Harley nodded, still looking at the pictures. The name "Napier" had not registered in her mind. Maybe she had forgotten the Joker's real name. "They sure looked happy…"

Joker's frown deepened. His thoughts had wondered to two nights ago. Harley had only joined him that day after escaping Arkham and did not know about Victoria, or their past. "Go to bed, Harley…"

"Huh?" Harley looked disheartened but obeyed. "Goodnight, Puddin'," she whispered and disappeared from the door.

The Joker glimpsed at the small end table that sat next to his sheet- covered armchair. He picked up the picture frame that sat under the lamp. With a finger, he brushed the dust away from the glass and smiled faintly.

The picture was of Jack and Victoria sitting at a card table, Victoria was laughing as Jack tried to contain a poker face. Joker remembered the scene. He had tried to tech Victoria poker only to find that she had no poker face. "Guess I should stick to Blackjack," she had giggled after losing a small fortune of her vast inheritance. Luckily, he had wan most of it back with a few of his own tricks.

Inside, a pang of guilt struck the Joker's heart. The only woman who knew him inside out, or outside in, was probably lying in Gotham General in a comatose state for the rest of her life. He, on the other hand, was reduced to hiding in her father's abandon mansion, surrounded by the past.

A single tear grew and fell onto the glass frame. "I'm so sorry, Victoria…"


	5. A New Rogue

**Chapter 5: A New Rogue**

The Batmobile rumbled down the deserted streets of Gotham. On the center conceal, a map blipped with the homing signal of Bruce's missing car. Behind the wheel, Batman sat grave and stern, his worse fear confirmed.

Inside, he had hoped Victoria strong enough to fend off and demons, but in the end they had won. Once again, Batman was faced with the loss of a friend, and even more, and also the duty of returning them to justice and helping find a normal life. What was done is done. There was no turning back.

Batman had located the missing Bentley in a back alley. He parked the Batmobile behind the stolen car and got out, examining the high rises on either side. All were dark, save the single glow that came down from on to the penthouse apartment. Faint echoes of glass crashing came down from above.

On instinct, Batman reached into his belt and shot his Bat-grapple up to the penthouse.

"Ah, Batman," the femme fatale Victoria stepped out onto the patio as Batman swung up to the penthouse. "I was wondering when you would pay me a visit."

Batman paused taking in Victoria's new look. She wore her wedding dress, now a pitch black, which ran from a tight corset into a simple skirt with a diagonal cut from her right hip to her left ankle. Her hourglass figure was even more extreme, with a thin, concave waste. Spike-heeled boots that laced up to her knees brought her already tall figure to and inch below Batman's. Two long-barreled revolvers were on each of her hips, half-hidden by a long, black, collared, trench coat. Her hair was neatly done up in a bun under a small black top hat. In her fingerless, gloved hand, she lightly tossed a perfume bottle.

"Like what you see, Bats?" she asked, flinging the bottles so that is crashed in the penthouse's open sliding door.

At first Batman was without words, "Victoria-"

"-Ah," Victoria raised a cautioning finger and smirked. "It's Vampyra now…"

"Victoria," Batman went on, ignoring her new title that only strengthened her insanity. "Come with me. I can help you…"

Vampyra, however, was examining the engagement ring on her left hand. "You know, Batman, some how I do not think this can work out between us…"

She twisted the diamond off her finger and threw it carelessly at Batman's feet. Reaching into her coat pocket, Vampyra pulled out a match. She lit it with a flick of her black nail. "It's The Tower for you, Dark Knight…"

With a devilish grin, Vampyra pitched the match into the puddle of perfume. Flames immediately engulfed the whole apartment.

Batman dropped behind the protection of his cape as the penthouse exploded. When the blast subsided, he straightened. All around the remains of the apartment still blazed and Victoria, now Vampyra, was gone.

The Joker staggered down the grand staircase of the Star Mansion he had just been awakened by another night terror. Instead of waking Harley, he had chosen to take his troubles downstairs to pace the rooms.

Moonlight filtered through the dirt-streaked windows of the living room, painting the room in blue and shadows. The Joker had the sensation of another in the room with him.

He turned his face upwards from his feet. A pair of laced up boots hung over the arm of a chair. Moonlight glistened on pale knees and a woman's thigh. A black-clawed hand reached out from the shadows to pull a card from a deck that rested on the nearby coffee table.

"Penny for your thoughts?" a woman's seductive tone escaped from the shadow.

"Who are you? How did you get in here?" Joker's surprise turned to anger once he remembered all the doors had been locked and the windows closed.

"I used the door, of course," the woman's legs moved to stand. "After all it is my house, Jack."

The Joker's face dropped and her retreated back a step in horror.

Vampyra stood before him, eyes burning with a new insanity and teeth flashing in a fanged grin.

"Victoria," Joker made no attempt to hide his uneasiness, his grin awkward and embarrassed. "I was just wondering how you were fairing, but I can see that you're fine!" His voice went up with slight panic.

"Oh, but I am more than just fine, Jack," Vampyra's indigo eyes softened into a livening fondness. "In fact, I was just dropping by to thank you…" Her voice was deathly sweet.

"Thank me?" Joker took another step back. "For what? I mean, really V, you didn't need to do this." He gulped.

"But, of course, I had to!" Vampyra advanced on him like a cat to a mouse. " I had to thank you for my birthday present…"

She held up a card before her face. With a grim smile, she flipped the card so the Joker could see its figure. A tarot card of the High Priestess flashed in front of the Joker and her could not help but see the similarities between Vampyra and the card. The both possessed the same fair skin, hour dark figure and a dark countenance that commanded fear and respect.

"Ah, yes!" the Joker let out a small sigh of relief. "I thought you would like them…"

Vampyra smiled. "I guess you thought right. However, that still does not excuse your offenses…" She reached at her hip and drew a long revolver on the Joker. "Look familiar? It used to be yours."

"Now, V!" the Joker nearly shouted from hysterics. "Can't we just be civilized?" He looked frantically for an escape.

"Civilized?" Vampyra let out a short harsh laugh. "From you? Surely that must be a joke," she cocked the hammer of the gun.

"Puddin'?"

Vampyra quickly hid the revolver in her trench coat, turning to the new voice.

Harley stood in the light of the hallway, rubbing sleep from her eyes, "What's going on?"

"Harley!" Joker let out and elated cry and quickly made to excuse Vampyra's presence. "Harley, this is Victoria-"

"-Vampyra," Vampyra corrected.

Joker looked at Vampyra in realization and then went on. "She's an old friend, who just happened to be dropping by. This used to be her old hide-out."

Harley looked at Vampyra and then the Joker. "Oh, okay… Harley Quinn, nice to meet cha." She gave a dreamy wave to Vampyra, who returned it with a nod.

Joker looked from Harley to Vampyra and back. "Uh, baby, why don't you just go back to bed? It's late and I'll be up in just a bit."

Harley gave a large yawn. "Okay, Mistah J. Goodnight…" She turned and walked back up the stairs.

Vampyra's gaze followed the sound of Harley's footsteps until they reached a bedroom. "I can see why you like her so much."

"Huh?" Joker looked at Vampyra. Inside, he praised Harley for being a light sleeper.

"She's a spitting image of me…" Vampyra's focus had turned to a picture that hung next to the doorway where Harley had appeared. "Or what was me, I should say… However, I am much taller… and intelligent…" she added the last comment in an undertone.

The Joker said nothing, knowing that Vampyra was exactly right. Harley was the one way he could lessen the loneliness. She was a reminder of what he once had and the idea that Victoria Star could have been at his side in crime. Now, however, the story was much different.

"Humph," Vampyra turned back to the Joker, the menacing glint in her eye had returned. "I would keep her close, if I were you, along with all of you other Rogue friends…"

The Joker face went blank. He glanced from the picture and the hallway and back to Vampyra, who had vanished in the shadows.


	6. The Missing

**Chapter 6: The Missing**

The Joker kept regular tabs on all of the Rogues that shared the high security wing with him at Arkham. He had taken the liberty of checking to see if anyone had unexplainably disappeared over the days following his encounter with Vampyra. Slowly, he was beginning to believe her threat was no more than a bluff. However, he had decided to stay under the radar, remembering quite well how Victoria Star kept her word.

Joker watched the morning news, as he always did, to keep up with any suspicious activity or perhaps a new hobby. He sat in a tall armchair in the den, which was adjacent to the kitchen. He ladled cereal from a bowl into his mouth, choosing the safer route than Harley's attempt at scrambled eggs and pancakes.

"-And in top stories, today," the familiar voice of Summer Gleason came onto the television. "Gotham City Police are baffled by the sudden disappearance of thirteen high security prisoners in Arkham Asylum this morning."

The Joker gagged and spit the spoonful of cereal he had just taken all over the screen. His eyes bulged as he scrambled down to the level of the television, on his knees.

"Police have no leads except for the strange tarot card left in each of the inmates' cells," Summer continued, Sugar-O's sliding down her face. "There was no evidence of a forced entry or if the inmates put up a struggle. The means of escape are yet unknown…"

Joker's hand went into his emerald hair, trying to keep his brain from exploding. How could she have broken into Arkham and kidnapped over ten of Gotham's finest super-villains? It was hard enough to break out of Arkham, for some that was, not the Joker. Even so, getting thirteen insane criminals out without any resistance or evidence was as close to impossible as anyone could come!

Wait, Joker sat back on his heels. If Vampyra had already bagged all of the Rogues at Arkham and she knew where he was hiding, then…

"HARLEY!"

Batman sat with his head in his hand, staring at the Batcomputer. He had been to Arkham around five that very morning, when the morning shift came for wake up calls only to find empty cells. As far as he could tell, there was no evidence of Vampyra coming or leaving with the Rogues, except for the empty cells and tarot cards.

The only clue he had were the card left at the scene. He had used the computer to compile a list of the inmates' real name, Rogue name, and the card left in their place.

"Cobblepot, Oswald- Penguin- The Heirophant

Crane, Jonathan- Scarecrow- Death

Dahl, Mary- Baby Doll- Queen of Cups

Dent, Harvey- Two-Face- The Wheel of Fortune

Fries, Victor- Mr. Freeze- King of Swords

Fugate, Temple- Clock King- King of Pentacles

Hagen, Matt- Clayface- The Chariot

Isley, Pamela- Poison Ivy- The Star

Jones, Waylon- Killer Croc- The Devil

Nigma, Edward- Riddler- The Hermit

Tetch, Jervis- Mad Hatter- The Emperor

Wesker, Arnold- Ventriloquist/Scarface- The Magician

Unknown- Bane- Strength"

Batman could not think of what Vampyra's madness meant. There were only three other super-villains that Vampyra had not named for her deck of tarot cards. Harley Quinn, formerly known as Harleen Quinzel, and Jack "Joker" Napier had escaped from Arkham prior to the break-in, or breakout. While Selina Kyle, sometimes known as Catwoman, was keeping her slate clean for and animal rights movement, hardly a target for Vampyra.

"Troubles, Sir?" a proper British accent asked from behind.

"Only the lack of evidence, Alfred," Batman replied to his old friend and butler. "The only clues I have are cards Victoria left at the scene."

"Well if you are having misfortunes," Alfred folded his hands behind his back. "I just came to inform you that you are being paged on your private line…"

Batman stood and headed over to the Batmobile. "Thanks, Alfred," he hopped in the car, "Keep me updated if anything turns up."


	7. Vampyra's Offer

**Chapter 7: Vampyra's Offer**

The roof of the police station was completely deserted. It was unlike Commissioner Gordon or any other person to leave the Bat-signal after turning it on. Silently, he switched off the light and looked around.

"Commissioner Gordon?" Batman asked the growing darkness with a low tone.

"BATMAN!" was the cry that came from a voice that Batman would have never expected.

Batman turned to see the Joker run out towards him. He raised a masked brow and stared at the panicked clown.

"Batman!" the Joker grabbed at Batman's shoulders tripping over a pipe in the roof. "Yah gotta help me," he glanced around, eyes wide. "She's gonna get me! I know it! She's got all the others, even Harley! And now she's comin' for me!"

The Joker backed away, his gloved fingertips in his yellow teeth, biting his nails. The sight gave Batman the impression of a white lab rat cornered by a cat.

"Wait," Batman's brow furrowed in confusion. This had to be bad if the Joker was asking him for help. "She took Quinn?"

"Right out from under my nose!" The Joker yelled, throwing his arms up for emphasis. "She was right there, in the kitchen, and the next thing I know, she's gone!"

Batman was still trying to comprehend all this, feeling awkward about the Joker telling him his problems. "Was there any struggle?" He did not know what else to say.

"No!" The Joker was nearing hysterics, but it was hard to tell, even for Batman. "Just an open window and one of her blasted cards!" He stomped his foot in frustration.

"A card?" Batman's mind went back to the list of inmates and tarot cards. "What was it?"

Joker reached into his pocket and handed over the card.

Queen of Wands, she had captured the only other Rogue except the Joker, now Vampyra was after him. "Where is she?"

Joker looked shocked. "Do you really think I would go looking for that lunatic?"

Batman raised another brow, ironic that he would refer to Vampyra as a "lunatic". "Come on…"

"What?"

Batman looked at his archenemies. "She's after you. The only way I can find her is if you stay with me…"

"Oh," Joker gave a confused smirk. "Right… Don't think I'm getting sane, Bats!"

Batman and Joker descended from the rooftop to find the Batmobile idling in the alleyway.

The Joker let out a long whistle. "Snazzy…"

"Don't get any ideas…" Batman said in a dark tone as the cover slid back to reveal the driver and passenger seat.

Both Batman and Joker jumped into the Batmobile. The roof slid closed with a snap.

"What did you touch?" Batman looked at the Joker.

"Nothing! I swear it!" Joker raised his hands.

Batman went to push the gas pedal only to find the Batmobile did not respond. He pushed a few buttons and switched with no avail.

"It's her!" Joker looked at the switches and began to pound on the roof. "Let me out of this thing!"

The screen on the center consul flipped on with a mind of its own. The screen showed a grinning picture of Vampyra. The Joker let out a scream, clawing at the side trying to get as far away from the picture as possible.

"Hello, Batman," Vampyra began. "I suppose you already know that I have already taken the liberty of borrowing many of your Arkham Rogues… But theirs still one more I require, and right now he is probably right next to you…"

Batman glanced at the Joker who was staring at the screen, panic turned to an angered annoyance in one of his many mood swings. "You not going to get this Rogue, Blackie!"

"Now you're probably wondering why I have even bothered kidnapping every super-villain in Gotham." The camera moved wider to show Vampyra walking past frozen figures of The Riddler, Two- Face, Poison Ivy and all the other missing Rogues. She stopped at the cringing figure of Harley Quinn, in full costume, and leaned against her. "The truth is… I was never fond of competition…"

The Joker gasped in horror at the figure of Harley's shocked face. "Why you little!"

"I am actually doing you a favor, really," Victoria went on with a smile. " Taking all these dangerous criminals off the streets for good… But then, I know you would even fight for these poor souls…" She strolled away from Harley. "So I have gathered another living collection…"

Vampyra stopped next to the paralyzed body of Commissioner Gordon and kissed his cheek. The camera proceeded to pan down a line of human statues. Mayor Hamilton Hill, Detective Harvey Bullock, Judge Maria Vargas, Veronica Vreeland and Lucius Fox were all lined one after the other. Many of Gotham's most influential leaders were all lifeless under Vampyra's spell.

"I think my offer is more than generous," Vampyra walked in between the row of villains and leaders showing off her work. "The leaders of Gotham City, for the clown. And I would not try any tricks, or let us just say it is the luck of the draw." She pulled out a card from her deck and showed it to the camera, Death. "You have one hour, Batman."

The consul went black and Batman looked at the Joker.

"Yeah, right!" Joker was laughing. "You wouldn't turn me over. Right, Bats?" He looked at Batman and his face immediately dropped. "Batman?"

Batman pulled a knockout canister from his belt, and sprayed the Joker in the face before he could protest.


	8. Last Words

**Chapter 8: Last Words**

Vampyra sat on a cold marble throne. Before her was a long marble hall guarded by pillars on each side. Between each column was on of the many Rogues, all motionless in a state of surprise. If the figures had not stood there, it would have shown graves resting along the walls of the tomb.

She lounged in the deadness, shuffling her deck of tarot card. She paused to look at a flight of stone stairs and returned to her deck.

In her younger years, Vampyra could find her father, Victor Star, sitting in that very same marble throne, amidst the ancestors of the Star lineage. She had always thought her father eccentric, spending more time gazing at the stars and constellation maps that with his lone daughter. Her moth had died three years after Vampyra was born from leukemia. After her mother's death, Vampyra's father spared no expense in giving his only child everything for a proper education.

Maybe she had taken after her mother in her level headedness. Vampyra revered tarot cards and astrology as nonsense, more taboo than science and fate. That might had been the reason she choose bioengineering, a practical and influential purpose. She wanted to save lives, not dream away with the night sky. However, there was always a sliver of intrigue.

Now that intrigue was obsession. Vampyra calmly placed the deck on the arm of the chair. Her eyes wandered toward the stairs as she drew a single card from the deck. Knight of Pentacles, he comes for a deal.

A black cape and cowl descended the flight. Over his should was a limp purple mass. Batman eyed the frozen statues that lined the tomb. He approached Vampyra and rested the Joker's slumbering form on the cold floor.

Vampyra replaced the card into the deck and uncrossed her legs to stand. Her eyes bored into Batman's as she gravely advance on him. Her black boots stopped inches away from the Joker's body.

"Our deal?" Batman's tone was menacing.

Vampyra gave an evil smirk and remover a dark blue vial from her coat pocket, dangling it in front of his face. "The cemetery mausoleum."

Batman snatched the vial in his fist and swept out of the crypt without another word.

Vampyra gave a triumphant smirk. At her feet the Joker began to stir. "Jack…" she said in a soft kind voice. "Wake up, honey…"

The Joker's face turned upwards and his eyes blinked groggily at Vampyra. His bleary eyes sprung wide and he let out a scream. Joker made to stand and run, but tumbled over, his hands and feet shackled.

"Don't' lease too soon," Vampyra stepped on the chain that held his feet together. "You're the guest of honor." She pulled out two baseball-sized orbs and tossed them down the rows of villains, a dark navy smoke spewing from them.

Joker watched as one by one all the Rogues began to awake, stretching and then circling around him and Vampyra.

"Did I miss the show?" a feline voice called from the stairs. A woman in a skintight leotard leaned against the wall. In the moonlight, two cat ears pointed from her head.

"Not yet…" Vampyra gave an evil smile as Catwoman came through the circle of grinning Rogues to Vampyra.

"What's going on?" The Joker demanded outraged that his fellow criminals stood smiling while he lay cuffed on the ground.

"Just a small meeting," Vampyra said offhandedly, not breaking her gaze from Catwoman. She pulled that deck of tarot cards from he coat and offered it to Catwoman. "If you would, Selina."

Catwoman obliged and pulled the top card off the deck. She glanced at it and showed the others, The Empress. Silently, she slid the card back into the pile and took her place in the circle.

Vampyra's attention turned back to the Joker, her hand replacing the deck in her coat. "Any last words, Jack?" Her right hand played with the gun at her hip.

Joker's head snapped back at Vampyra. "What! You can't be serious?" He turned to his other Rogues. "Two-Face?"

Two-Face flipped his coin. "Bad heads, you lose…"

"Riddler?"

"What's purple and white, but laughs no more?"

Joker grimaced and moved on. "Penguin?"

The Penguin only turned up his beaked nose.

Joker looked around. Scarecrow scowled, Poison Ivy had never liked him, Mr. Freeze could care less, but then his eyes came to rest on his only hope. "Harley!"

Harley was at the edge of the circle, between the Mad Hatter and Killer Croc. "Yah know, Mistah J, at first I wasn't too keen on all this, but then V, here, talked some sense inta me. There better men out there, right Jervis?"

"As you said, my dear…" The Mad Hatter slipped an arm around Harley. "How could you treat such a Queen of Diamonds so rudely? My dear, if you would?"

Harley gave a maniacal grin and said in a final tone. "Off with his head!"

Joker jaw dropped in horror. After all he's done for her, Harley was just going to stand by?

"Well, Jack?" Suddenly, Vampyra's gun was pointed at his head.

All the Joker did was gulp, his eyes fixed on the barrel. "Victoria, I-" his voice was inaudible.

"What?" Vampyra was smiling a wide, fanged grin, tilting her ear to the Joker and cocking the hammer of the gun. "I can't hear you!"

Joker grimaced. "I love you!" The words seemed so far from anything he had uttered before, but he opened an eye at a gasp from Harley.

Vampyra's face was filled with hatred. "Too late, Jack…"

Joker heard the bang. His entire body braced for the bullet, but it never came. His eyes parted to see a red and yellow flag with the word "BANG" on it inches from his forehead.

Vampyra burst into fits of insane laughter, a high crazed shrieking laugh. The Rogues all joined in a chorus of laughter. Vampyra bent down to the Joker, her face light with joy. "Gotcha!" She twirled the flag around in the air.

The Joker gave a bewildered grin and a short, demoralized chuckle before he collapsed on the marble floor, out cold.

Batman existed the tomb. In the distance he could see the cemetery's mausoleum. Behind him, he heard a loud shriek. On instinct, he wanted to run back into the crypt, whether or not it was the Joker, it was still someone in trouble.

Batman, however, remember Vampyra's threat on the Commissioner's and Mayor's lives, along with many other innocent socialites. He had a duty to return them safely to their home before aiding the criminally insane.

He could see the frozen statues of the Gotham leaders lined along the sides of the mausoleum. It seemed almost too easy, but then Vampyra was after the Joker, not him.

Batman entered through the glass-paneled door. He glanced around, no spikes or blades lunged at him.

Suddenly, steel plates began to slide over the glass doors, trapping Batman and the other inside.

Batman looked up. Suspended above was a bundle of dynamite, enough to level the entire mausoleum. Beyond it, a steel panel began to cover a skylight.

Without hesitation, Batman fired his Bat-grapple at the dynamite and the closing skylight. The hook latched onto the dynamite and catapulted it through the skylight just as the plate snapped shut on the line of the hook.

Outside, the explosion shook the whole building, but the danger had past.

Batman removed the blue vial from his belt. Inside, he knew that this was just the start of Vampyra's madness.


	9. New Beginnings

**Chapter 9: New Beginnings**

The soft morning sun streamed down on the Joker's face. At first, he wondered why the Arkham guards let him sleep so late. Then he remembered her was not in Arkham at all.

The Joker sat up in a comfortable full-sized bed. Sunlight poured through on opened window with dark green curtains. The rest of the room was quiet uniform, dressers, a full-length mirror, a closet, and a door that lead to the adjacent bathroom. He recognized instantly that he was in one of the many guest rooms of the Star Manor.

Joker found his clothes in a neat pile on a chair, clean and folded. Once dressed, he made his way down to the kitchen where an odd sight met his eyes.

"Hi, Mistah J!" Harley piped as he walked into the spacious kitchen.

Harley was standing along side Vampyra, drying dished as Vampyra washed at the two-basin sink. Through the window in front of the sink, Joker could see Poison Ivy and small Baby Doll starting a garden. At the huge kitchen table sat the Mad Hatter and Scarecrow playing a game of checkers. While the Riddler sat with a puzzle book, biting a pencil, and Bane, Killer Croc, and Clayface were having an adamant arm- wrestling contest at the end of the table. In the adjacent den, Two-Face, Penguin, the Ventriloquist and his puppet, Scarface, were watching the television. In an armchair by the window, the Clock King calmly read the morning's newspaper, and in a shadowed corner, Mr. Freeze was situated with a pen and notebook in one hand and a snow globe of a dancing blonde in the other.

Joker pulled out a bar stool and took a seat at the long, island counter in the center of the kitchen. His mind was still flustered at the gathering of so many Rogues under one roof.

Vampyra let out a content smile. Drying her hand, she reached into the oven and pulled out a plate of eggs and toast. Without a word, she set it in front of the Joker.

"So," Joker looked from the others to his breakfast to Vampyra, "It was all a set up?"

Vampyra's smile broadened as she leaned on the counter. "We all thought you could use a bit of a wake up call, so to speak…"

Joker let an embarrassed smile cross his face, and caught sight of Harley behind Vampyra. "You didn't mean that did you, Harl?"

Harley's mouth turned into an awkward grin. "Well, I was just thinkin' I should be out on my own a bit… Get to see what else is out there, yah know?"

Joker's head hung, and he fiddled with the food on his fork. First Vampyra and now Harley, he was beginning to think he could not win with ladies anymore.

"Hey," Vampyra broke in. "Don't worry about it. We'll keep an eye on her."

Joker smiled. He knew Harley could fend for herself quite well. Thinking, he shoved a bite of egg into his mouth. "Say, what happened to the Bat?" He asked through a mouthful.

Vampyra shrugged. "I think we can come up with some bigger and better things for him…" She reached into her back pocket and pulled out the deck of tarot cards he had given her. "Welcome to the club." She said lightly, offering the top of the deck.

Joker's smile was one of relief as he pulled the top card off and looked at it. With a triumphant smirk he passed Vampyra the card.

"The Fool," Vampyra chuckled. "It means new beginnings."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Hey Folks! Don't leave yet! I've got big plans for Vampyra and The Deck of Rogues. I'm thinking of a Kareoke Night out for some of the Arkham Rogues and Vampyra. Anyone for seeing Joker sing Gwen Stefani's "Rich Girl"? 


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